ProLiant DL180 gen 9 vs custom build with Asus Z10PE-D16

[Patriot]

DL180 might be quieter... it is the baby server. DL380 is full heavy iron.

You can do either 2 P440s, 1 P840 or P440+expander ... what raid type are you wanting? If you want 1 single array... you need 440+expander or 840... if you are looking for ZFS or some software raid do a 1 or 2 240s or 1 h240+expander if you care less about latency.

For my performance boxes... I have P440ar + P840 and use the onboard for 2 drives off the back.
That gives me 24 drives in the front hotswap with no expanders and 2 in the back to boot from off the chipset.

 

[Tim]

According to these documents (links below), the DL380 752687-B21 is a "Base" model with only 1 socket.
Not sure why I've got wrong info from the seller telling me that it was a two socket system.
But, it's more silent than the DL180.
Not sure if this is caused by the numbers of fans in a two socket vs one socket system or not.
Also might be the type of fans.

DL380 idle at 24 dBA and operating at 30 dBA.
DL180 idle at 39 dBA and operating at 40 dBA.

Sources:
Under Technical spesifications.
DL180
Product documentation
DL380
Product documentation

That's a big difference in dBA and something I've got to consider.
But the loss of one cpu is something I'll need more time to decide on.
I'll have to look into my vm needs.

Anyway, regarding the number of drives.
Yes I'll be running zfs. Is the h240 as fast as the p440 for this kind of operations?
The DL180 comes with the p440 as standard anyway.
So I'll have the options for the h240 or another p440 for the next 8 disks.

 

[Patriot]

They both have 2 sockets, but you can operate any 2p board in a 1p config. For HDDs in zfs, even if there was a difference between the two controllers you would not be able to notice it. Previous gen was capable of 1m iops... H240 is cacheless, but I don't think the cache comes into play in hba mode on the p440 anyways.

If the price is even remotely close, go for the DL380gen9...
It has higher max cpu support listed, 3dpc instead of 2dpc, hotswap psu's... and get a pair of H240s with it.
Boot off of integrated SD slot, or internal dual USB3.0 header.

 

[Tim]

If you're sure/know that they both have 2 sockets then the DL380 seems a better option to me.
The price difference is around 300 usd.

Why is the base/entry listed as one cpu? And the performance with two cpu?
Default config only and not the actual number of sockets?
Most of the documentation is confusing sometimes. Sorry for dumb questions.

I guess the h240 is more than enough for my needs.
But both the DL180 and DL380 in these prebuilt systems comes with the p440/p440ar.
These prebuilt systems are cheaper than if I was going to BTO/CTO the same system it seems.

Would I be able to boot from the b140i as well?
Or in some way split the first 8 disks between the p440 and the b140i?

 

[Patriot]

If you're sure/know that they both have 2 sockets then the DL380 seems a better option to me.
The price difference is around 300 usd.

Why is the base/entry listed as one cpu? And the performance with two cpu?
Default config only and not the actual number of sockets?
Most of the documentation is confusing sometimes. Sorry for dumb questions.

I guess the h240 is more than enough for my needs.
But both the DL180 and DL380 in these prebuilt systems comes with the p440/p440ar.
These prebuilt systems are cheaper than if I was going to BTO/CTO the same system it seems.

Would I be able to boot from the b140i as well?
Or in some way split the first 8 disks between the p440 and the b140i?

Yes but you will need the 2 disk rear drive bay, or front for that matter... There is no splitting of a miniSAS cable. If you are doing freenas... you should probably just use an SD card or USB3 key over wasting a full disk for booting from.

 

[Tim]

Ah, so the backplane has 1 input for all 8 disks.
That's good to know.

I'm running esxi, so I need one disk for the vm's anyway.
Can the "media bay" (box 1) hold that 2 disk drive bay?
The manual wasn't clear on that (seems to be optical and vga/usb only).
If not, it's ok to put that bay in the back.

I'll have a look at the manual now and be sure to get the right SKU for everything.
Any news on that E5 v4 release date?

@Patriot, thank you very much for your help!

 

[Patriot]

Oh, you are doing SFF... right. no, miniSAS is 4 phy's so 4 disks per cable. You could plug half into each controller.
And the 2 drive can go in the third bay, or you can put another 8 bay there lol...

 

[Tim]

That was what I thought in the first place.
Sorry to confuse you.

Just a quick update on the SKU for the DL380.

According to every document I can find on HP's site tells me that the 752687-B21 is a
one cpu socket server, as every other "base" and "entry" model of the DL380 with the B21 SKU.
That was todays feedback from the seller as well.

I've been given a new SKU for the DL380 with 2 sockets.
768345-425
http://www8.hp.com/no/no/products/proliant-servers/product-detail.html?oid=7044729#!tab=specs
Same cpu as the B21 and the same p440 controller, but with only 8GB ram.
2,265 USD, so the price difference is in the missing memory module.

My only problem, I can't find any documentation on these -425 SKU's, only the B21 are listed.
Where can I find the complete documentation for the DL380 gen9 768345-425?

 

[Patriot]

What question do you have about it? a sku is just a configuration of the base model... They all use the same mobo and take the same parts its just a matter of how that is configured. The boards are not depopped just because they only sell it with one chip, just as the DL560s are not depopped when they only come with 2.

The quickspecs gives you the DL380Gen9 full documentation. The sku gives you the config.

 

[Tim]

It would be nice to know if the 768345-425 is defined as a entry, base or performance model. As it would, according to my understanding of the hp docs, mean different configurations and what other components I'll have to order etc. Also different types of fans if I read the doc's right.
It seems that the 425 SKU's are obsolete? From the doc's, obsolete SKU's removed and only B21 listed.
Sorry for being picky but there's a discrepancy between the hp doc's and what the reseller is giving me of information.

Anyway I think I'll go with the DL380 752687-B21 (base model). And trust that the hp's one socket spesification is just my misunderstanding.
Also, it comes with the cable management arm and easy install rail kit from my reseller. And I'll expand it further with the following SKU's

• 726720-B21 4x HP 16GB (1x16GB) Dual Rank x4 DDR4 LRDIMM
• 724865-B21 1x Universal Media Bay
• 724864-B21 1x 2xSFF front drives
• 783008-B21 1x 2SFF Front SAS x4 Cable Kit (to use the 2SFF from the embedded B140i)
• 726907-B21 1x H240 12Gb 2-ports Int Smart Host Bus Adapter
• 768857-B21 1x 8SFF Bay2 Cage/Backplane Kit
• 786092-B21 1x 8SFF H240 Cable Kit

6G SATA Hot Plug SFF caddies from ebay for all my hdd/ssd's. Or I might have another source for plenty of these if the DL380 gen8 caddies are a valid option? The same functionality? The same chip and firmware? What revision should I look after?
Are the SKU for these still 651699-001 and/or 651687-001?

 

[Patriot]

v4 sku's available today.
HPE ProLiant DL380 Gen9 Server| Hewlett Packard Enterprise®
Caddies are not available officially from HPE and are either stripped from low end drives or fake.

SKUs can be regional or even customer specific, you can even make your own if you are ordering a large amount of servers.
The normal configs/skus are listed on main quickspecs but those can be updated from time to time to compete with other vendors.

All those parts look correct... however now that this is v4 launch day you might consider ddr4 2400 instead.
There is no 16gb LRDIMM for 2400 though, just for 32 and 64gb. They have regular single and dual rank 16gb 2400 dimms though.
HPE ProLiant DL380 Generation9 (Gen9) (QuickSpecs/c04346247.pdf)

 

[Tim]

Great news!
I might consider the 826682-B21 as it has the v4 of the E5-2620 I was considering (upgraded from 6/12 cores to 8/16).
If the price is ok. If not I'm hoping on a small price reduction on the v3.

Regarding ddr4 2400, the E5-2620 doesn't support more than 2133 anyway, so no need for the 2400.
But it's an upgrade from the v3 which only supported 1866.

Getting caddies seems to be the only hassle now. I'll have go get a confirmation on earlier gen. caddies and compatibility.
If gen.7 or gen.8 caddies are compatible, then I don't need third-party (fake) caddies.
I'm not going to buy overpriced hdd's from HP for home use, but need functional caddies.

I guess the 425 SKU's was replaced by the B21 SKU's for the prebuilt collection.
Not a big deal anyway as I'm looking into the B21 ones now (either the v3 or v4 depending on the price).

 

[Patriot]

gen8 caddies are compatible, gen7 are not... both of the caddies you linked should work.

 

[Tim]

Thanks!
In a few weeks I'll know if I can get hold of the gen8 caddies or not.
Meanwhile I'll see if I can get another reseller, too many flaws in every bit of information from them.